


finding skye

by edgeoflights



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Gen, philindaisy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28372968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgeoflights/pseuds/edgeoflights
Summary: What if Melinda May and Daisy Johnson had crossed paths much earlier than in canon?
Relationships: Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Nick Fury & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson & Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson/Melinda May, minor phil coulson/melinda may - Relationship
Comments: 12
Kudos: 146
Collections: Agents of SHIELD Secret Santa 2020





	finding skye

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarlightDreamer21](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightDreamer21/gifts).



> HAPPY LATE SECRET SANTA LAUREN!
> 
> I am absolutely late and I am so, so sorry. If you're curious why, it was a lot of health issues piled on top of me forgetting to save the fic when I'd first written it. I didn't forget, Lauren, and I'm super sorry you got such a crummy Secret Santa. I hope 5.5k words of Daisy and May stuff make up for it!
> 
> Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Kwanzaa to all :)
> 
> \- This is an au, Phil and Melinda get together when they’re in the academy and get married soon after. I know Melinda seems slightly OOC, but it’s just because it’s pre-bahrain Melinda. -
> 
> \- There are references and allusions to graphic abuse. Reader discretion is advised. -

Fourteen days spent on one single stakeout.

That had to be a record.

Melinda closed her eyes and breathed in deep, the salty air of the pier mixing with the smells of fresh churros and hot dogs. She tuned her ears into a conversation nearby- a family, arguing about what to eat for lunch. Boring, and not what she was looking for.

Melinda scanned the mildly crowded pier and the beach next to it, looking for their target- a dark haired, middle-aged man that did magic tricks to entertain children on an LA beach pier. It was suspected that he was gifted, and Melinda and Coulson- Phil- had been partnered together to find him, confirm he was powered, then index him.

Melinda adjusted her sunglasses and stood up from the bench, then walked behind a row of street vendors before ducking into an alleyway.

Her in-ear comms device crackled to life. “ _Agent May, you there?_ ” her husband asked, using her field name on the public channel.

“Copy,” she answered her partner. “I still don’t have eyes. Are you sure it wasn’t a false tip?”

“ _Yes, I’m sure._ ” Phil’s staticky sigh came over the line. “S _tay online. I’ll contact Fury for orders._ ”

“Copy,” she repeated. “I’ll stay near the south end of the pier.”

Phil confirmed before signing off.

Melinda walked back out onto the pier, watching as a group of high schoolers took a group photo with the beach behind them. Further away, on the sand, a few volleyball games were happening. Melinda feigned watching one of the closer games as she scanned again for their target.

Ten minutes later, she still had seen nothing, so she moved positions. She headed across the dock to a vendor selling cotton candy and ordered a pink one before sitting on a nearby bench.

Melinda had been trained since the beginning of the academy to observe everything around her, so when a young girl walked up the side of the vendor’s cart and slyly grabbed a wad of bills from the tip box, Melinda noticed.

The small girl, who looked about ten or eleven, ducked behind a young couple while sneaking a furtive look around.

Melinda toyed with the idea of confronting her, despite the fact that she was supposed to be scouting out for a target on the gifted index.

After the kid had already almost gone out of sight, Melinda relented. She was bored, the stakeout wasn’t going anywhere, and it would take a significant amount of time for Phil to reach Fury to ask about the mission.

She threw the barely-eaten cotton candy away and started to head down the pier, keeping an eye on the pale green hoodie quickly disappearing down the dock. The girl was fast and smart, ducking under people’s arms and blending in with the crowd.

Melinda followed, circling around major groups of people to keep up with the girl.

She led Melinda across the boardwalk to a cluster of abandoned shops, slipping inside a broken door graffitied and covered in old lost-pet flyers and ads for karaoke nights from the cafe the building used to be. After a second, Melinda followed her into the building.

The inside of the small building was caked with dust, and broken chairs and tables were littered around the room. Melinda waved away some of the thick air as she loudly closed the creaky door behind her in order to make herself known.

The girl whirled around and stared at Melinda with wide eyes, her chest heaving.

“I saw you steal that cash.”

The girl didn’t reply.

“What’s your name?”

The girl swallowed and backed up a few steps. She didn’t look scared so much as poised to attack at any moment. “Why would I tell you my name?”

Melinda started to glare but then frowned. This wasn’t an interrogation.

“Look, I just want to know why you stole that money.”

“Why I stole it?” the girl echoed with a scoff. “Because not everyone has the money to buy food for themselves.”

“I know-”

“I don’t look like somebody who needs it, though, right?” The girl bristled and stepped backwards, obviously ready to bolt.

She didn’t. Between the nicely kept hoodie and the clean white shorts, she seemed like an average, middle-class teenager hoping to make a few quick bucks. 

The only thing that was odd was the large purple-green bruise lining her forehead.

“Hey, I’m sorry. My name is Melinda.”

The girl eyed her suspiciously, then relaxed marginally. “Some people call me Skye.”

“Skye. That’s a pretty name.”

“I guess.” Skye bit her lip. “So you’re not gonna tell on me?”

“Did you have a good reason?”

“I said already, I needed food,” Skye replied, her face tensing again.

“Where are your parents?”

Skye looked Melinda straight in the eye. “They’re busy at work. I forgot my money at home,” she said, sounding like she was skilled at lying to adults, but the tremor in her voice and the flatness of her tone immediately gave her away.

Melinda sighed. The kid was obviously lying, but she was wary that pushing would cause Skye to run away. For whatever reason, Melinda felt drawn to this girl. The fractaled look in Skye’s eyes and the way she held herself, as if she was ready for an attack from every direction, the bruise on her head and the thick hoodie she was wearing despite how hot it was outside… Melinda was getting the feeling that something was very wrong, deeper than just a kid stealing some money for extra snacks.

“Okay.” Melinda sighed and sat down on an old chair with a wobbly leg. “Are you okay with talking?”

“About?” Skye asked suspiciously.

“Did you fall?” Melinda gestured to the bruise on Skye’s head.

“Yeah,” Skye said, shifting on her feet, her eyes flicking to the back door behind her.

“Okay. How was your day?” Melinda tried. She needed to know more; know more about the young girl standing before her like a stray cat, ready to dart away at any moment.

“Crappy.” Skye twisted her lips. “You?”

“Not great.” 

“What are you doing on the boardwalk stalking me? You have kids or something?”

Melinda studied Skye for a second, then continued. “I’m on a stakeout for a man who has superpowers,” she said truthfully. 

“Right,” Skye scoffed.

“You don’t believe me?”

“Superpowers? What am I, five?”

Melinda shrugged and put her hands up, making a show of relenting. “Sorry, thought you’d fall for it.”

“Well, I didn’t,” Skye scoffed again, but a hint of a smile appeared on her lips.

“And no- I don’t have kids.”

“Oh.” Skye blinked at Melinda.

“ _‘Oh?’_ ” Melinda asked, amused.

“I mean- you just have a mom vibe… I dunno.” Skye looked at Melinda slyly. “And you’re wayyy old enough to be one.”

“Thank you,” Melinda replied with a smirk. 

Skye sighed and twisted the hem of her sweatshirt. “I feel like I should say sorry for taking the money. Even though I’m not,” Skye added.

“Don’t apologize if you don’t mean it,” Melinda replied.

“I-”

“ _Mel, we’ve got eyes on the target._ ” Phil appeared suddenly over comms. “ _South end._ ”

Melinda pursed her lips. “Dammit, I have to go.”

Skye shrugged and looked down at the ground. “Okay, bye.”

“Wait. I know you weren’t telling me the whole story just now-” Skye bristled. “- and that’s fine. But please- let me give you my home phone, and if you ever need me, just call me. If I can, I’ll try and help with whatever you need. Money, or food, or...” 

Skye bit her lip. “Fine, I guess.”

Melinda recited it a few times until Skye nodded that she had it memorized.

Melinda started to reluctantly back away. “Will you remember that? Will you be okay?”

Skye chuckled wryly. “Probably not,” she said, before turning around and jumping out of the window.

Melinda gritted her teeth but opened the door and headed back out into the sun to where the target had been spotted, hoping that the young girl would be okay.

…

The next time Melinda saw Skye, it was two months later and she was on a break in between missions. She wasn’t supposed to be shipped out to Peru until the next week, so she was staying temporarily in her and Phil’s small apartment in LA. He was in an air base in Montana, working with Fury.

She didn’t expect a call from Skye. Melinda had given her the only number she had that wasn’t encrypted beyond belief, but she expected no call.

Yet she’d been picking up every unknown number she’d received a call from, making sure it wasn’t Skye.

Two months later, she still hadn’t received a call from the girl, and she knew it was likely that Skye had either forgotten it by now or never planned on using it- and then the phone rang loudly just as she was getting out of the shower, displaying an unknown number.

Melinda picked up as she wrapped a towel around her body. 

“Yes?”

A trembling, scared, “ _H-hey?_ ” came from the phone.

Her voice sounded terrified beyond belief.

Melinda froze, then immediately made her way into her room, quickly drying off her hair and pulling on clothes as she talked. “Skye?”

“ _Yea,_ ” she whispered, trailed by a sniff.

“What happened?” Melinda asked, sensing that something was beyond wrong.

“ _I stole his phone… he’s gonna kill me, he will…_ ”

“Who?”

“ _J-John_.”

Melinda pulled on a shirt as she set the phone to speaker mode. “Are you in danger? Do you need me to get you out of there?”

“I _don’t- I don’t think you can…_ ”

“I can,” Melinda replied firmly. “Skye, are you in danger?” she repeated.

“ _...yeah. He- he didn’t show it to me but he- well I dropped a glass- and h-he has a gun, or at least he says he does-_ ”

“Do you have an address?” Melinda asked as she plugged her phone into her computer to get an area code using the level 5 Shield servers.

“ _No,_ “ Skye let out a shaky sob.

“That’s fine, I got it,” Melinda reassured her as the shield database found a location, a house only ten minutes away if she took her bike. She sent a quick ping to local authorities and then set up directions to the location. “I’m coming. Are you able to stay on the call?”

“ _Maybe? I dunno if he- he’ll come back,_ ” Skye cried softly. “ _It’s dark._ ”

“I know. Don’t talk unless you have to, you don’t want to draw his attention back to you. Would you like me to talk to you as I come get you?” Melinda asked, knowing that it always calmed rookie agents down as they waited for extraction.

“ _Y-yea, please,_ ” Skye sniffled.

Melinda closed her laptop and grabbed her gun, tucking it into her boot before bolting out the door. “I’m coming, kid,” she repeated.

She made her way down the stairs and past the lobby before making it to her motorcycle in the garage.

“Sorry, it might be hard to hear me with all of the wind,” Melinda apologized as she switched the call to her earpiece and swung a leg over her bike and started the engine.

Skye whispered, “ _That’s fine,_ ” as Melinda tore out of the apartment building and down the streets of Los Angeles, weaving in between traffic.

Melinda started talking, just something to take Skye’s mind off of the hell she was currently stuck in. “I didn’t lie, you know. About being on the pier to find a super-powered person. I’m an agent of an organization that focuses on protecting and recording abnormal events. My partner and I found him after I left you. He was posing as a regular street magician, but he was actually using superhuman abilities to make objects levitate. He wasn’t doing anything bad, but Phil- my husband- and I indexed him, which means we put his name and info on a list of people that can do inhuman things like he can.”

Melinda made her way through a roundabout street as she noted in the back of her mind that she was spilling extremely classified info to a ten year old.

“Phil; he’s in Montana right now. Helping… Angry? Sure, Director Angry. Phil’s helping Director Angry develop a new way to transport people. Huge freight ships, but instead of floating in the water, they fly.”

Skye giggled nervously. “ _That s-sounds really cool._ ”

“It is. One day, I hope I can pilot one. I’m a specialist, not a pilot, but one time I was injured, so I spent my entire time stuck in a bed studying on how to get as far away from that bed as possible. Phil, who’s higher ranking than I am, brought me to the cockpit of a plane the minute I was cleared for active duty. After that I fell in love with flying,” Melinda explained.

“ _Flying sounds awesome,_ ” Skye whispered. “ _That’s why I call myself Skye. That’s the furthest I can get from here._ ”

Melinda slowed down as she arrived at the house. It was in the middle of the suburban neighborhood, and looked completely normal. There was a large tree with a tire swing hanging off of it, but the tire looked clean and unused, which added to the odd feeling in Melinda’s gut. 

There were no cops there yet despite the ping she’d sent them earlier, so Melinda didn’t waste time.

“Stay on the call,” she told Skye as she parked her bike and took off her helmet.

Melinda walked up to the front door and knocked loudly. When nobody responded, she tried again, resolving to kick the door down if nobody responded by the third knock.

Unfortunately the door swung open, and a middle-aged man reeking with the scent of alcohol stood in the doorway.

“What-”

“Do you have a kid in the house, John?” Melinda asked bluntly.

“How d’you know my name?” John spat.

“Do you have a kid in the house?” Melinda repeated.

John stared at her with an ugly snarl. “No.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Listen, _lady_ ,” John slurred, moving forward towards Melinda. He tried to seem menacing but could barely walk in a straight line. “I dunno _who_ d’yu’r think you’d _got_ , but it’s the _wrong_ _guy_.”

“I doubt that.” Melinda feigned a move towards him, causing him to lunge at her drunkenly. She sidestepped him easily and tripped him before landing a punch to his face. John collapsed on the ground. Melinda nudged him with her toe and he didn’t move, likely unconscious. 

Melinda knew that she’d have loads of questions to answer when the cops arrived, but she didn’t really care. (Phil would get her out of it.)

Melinda walked around John and into the house, looking around with cautious eyes. She wasn’t sure if there was anybody else in the house other than Skye. “Skye? Is there anyone else here other than John?” Melinda asked.

“ _Um, no,_ ” Skye whispered. “ _Grant is at school, I think._ ”

Melinda noted that there was another kid living there. “Okay. Can you tell me where in the house you are?”

“ _In the laundry room, in the back of the house. It’s dark,_ ” Skye said. “ _Where’s J-john?_ ”

“I dealt with him. He shouldn’t be an issue. The cops are coming.”

Skye didn’t reply. Melinda walked to the back of the house, noticing how the house looked pretty clean and normal, but had an odd lack of school things on the counters or colorful pillows or photos on the walls, or anything that made the home look like children lived in it.

Opening a sliding door, Melinda found herself looking down into a dark room at a squinting Skye, with tear tracks running down her cheeks and fresh bruising on her chin. Without the hoodie, Melinda could see Skye’s long, dark brown hair and her ridiculously skinny arms wrapped around her knees as she sat in a protective ball, trembling.

“Hi,” Melinda knelt down gently.

“H-he’s never been that bad,” Skye hiccuped as her shock seemed to fade and her small frame was wracked with hyperventilating gasps.

“Can I touch you to help you ground yourself?” Melinda asked softly, keeping her hands in plain view, in a placating position.

Skye nodded shakily as she sobbed, closing her eyes and opening her mouth in a silent scream.

Melinda took each of Skye’s bony hands and held them in hers, not too tight so that Skye wouldn’t feel trapped in her grasp.

“Can you breathe with me?”

“Y-yeah,” Skye hiccuped.

Melinda led her through some silent breathing exercises, and slowly her tiny sobs got slower and her breathing evened out.

“Th-thanks,” Skye whispered.

“All good. Hey, Skye, listen.”

Skye looked at Melinda.

“No matter what, I _will_ keep you safe, okay? I promise. And I have a feeling lots of people have broken their promises over the years, but I won’t. You deserve better, Skye.”

Skye nodded and lunged at Melinda, wrapping her thin arms around Melinda’s neck and hugging her tightly. 

A couple of minutes later, that’s how the cops found them.

…

“I called the right people and they doctored the papers for you. Legally, the kid’s name is now Skye Coulson May,” Maria said, handing Melinda a folder as they both stood right outside Phil’s office in the LA base.

“Phil is going to freak,” Melinda sighed as she opened the file and looked at Skye’s new name.

It wasn’t that she _planned_ on adopting Skye, it was just that the entire ride to the hospital, Skye refused to let go of her. Melinda had called Phil, but discovered he’d had to go dark for 24 hours. Then she called Maria, and now, less than a day later, she was a mother.

“Hey, honey, I brought home a kid,” Maria smirked.

“Funny.”

“Mel, he’ll understand. And hey- maybe a kid is what you two need.”

“We tried for years, Maria, you know that. Then... we decided it wasn’t meant to be, not for us.”

“Maybe it wasn’t meant to be like _that_ ,” Maria suggested. 

Melinda looked through the glass at the curled up child on one of Phil’s roller chairs. “It’s hard raising a kid as two agents.”

“She needs someone right now. She was bounced around foster care so much, it’s a surprise she trusts you.”

Melinda nodded. “Yeah.”

“Mel,” Natasha came around the corner with a rare smile on her face. “Congrats on the kid, and sorry I’m late, I got caught up in airport security. Apparently throwing knives aren’t allowed on a plane.” Natasha shrugged innocently. “Hey, Maria.”

“Hey, Nat,” Melinda touched her shoulder in a tired greeting. “Thanks for coming. I would ask how you knew, but of course you know.”

Nat smiled. “Yeah. Where is she right now?”

Melinda gestured to the door. “Sleeping in Phil’s office with my leather jacket as a blanket. She was cleared from the ER with only minor bruising, but she’s beyond exhausted.”

“That’s good.” Natasha peered into the room. “She’s so small,” she said softly.

“Yeah. They don’t have her age documented but she says she’s ten.”

“Damn.” Natasha looked back at Melinda. “Ready to be a mother?”

“No,” Melinda replied. “I didn’t even prepare, at all, I mean I couldn’t have, but-”

“You were a great SO to me,” Natasha nudged her. “You’ll do fine.”

“Thanks, Nat.” Melinda crossed her arms, still looking at the sleeping girl in the next room. “The man… John,” she said his name with a hiss. “He had a biological son with him. He’s being rehomed as well. Skye made it pretty clear she didn’t care where he went as long as it wasn’t with her.”

“Oh.” Natasha’s face darkened. “What happened to the abuser?”

“Waiting for trial, sitting in county.” Maria answered. “We’re tracking his case, since the caseworkers are going to want to call Skye in as an anonymous witness. The second something goes wrong and he’s let free, we’ll know. We doctored Skye to look like May’s biological kid, but she’s still a part of the case. The cover is that Skye was stolen from Mel when she was a baby, and Melinda found her now.”

“Does she know about the change yet?”

“Some of it,” Melinda replied.

_“Where are we going?” Skye had asked, hunched up in the back of Maria’s car that Melinda had borrowed._

_“We’re going to where I work for a little bit while we try to figure out living arrangements for you,” Melinda explained. “I only have a small apartment that I share with Phil. Most of the time, I’m traveling around the world.”_

_“Like a spy?” Skye said with a small voice._

_“Yeah, basically,” Melinda replied._

_“So I’m going home w-with you?” Skye said, sounding painfully like she was trying to cover up the hope leaking out of her voice._

_“Yes, as soon as we figure out how we’ll fit you into our-” Melinda paused. Family. Because that’s what they were going to be, a family. Just her, Phil, and Skye._

_“That’s-” Skye yawned. “-really cool.”_

_Melinda watched through the rearview mirror as Skye closed her eyes and shifted into a more relaxed position._

_When it seemed like Skye had fallen asleep from pure exhaustion, her eyes fluttered open. “Thank you,” she murmured._

_“Always,” Melinda replied with a small, warm smile._

…

After Phil had gone back online and discovered that he now had a daughter- that was an extremely fun reaction to witness- he and Melinda immediately started to work on figuring out how two busy agents could possibly raise a kid.

They sold their apartment in east LA. Soon after, they got an anonymous donation from someone asking them to put it all towards helping Skye, which they had no problem with. 

(Maria heavily implied it was from Fury, but since nobody had seen him in weeks, Melinda wasn’t convinced.)

Phil and Melinda bought a house, keeping it on the outskirts of Los Angeles- estate prices in the city were no joke- and in a suburban neighborhood.

They were about half an hour from the Playground base, which was fine since most of their operations lasted a long time and didn’t involve driving back and forth to base too much.

The plan was that most of the time, there would be at least one of them with Skye at home. If the two of them had to work together for an op (and that would happen, since they were best when they were together), Maria, who stayed on base at the Triskelion, would take Skye for the duration. 

It was a lot of shifting around, and it wasn’t ideal, but Skye had pleaded to do online school anyway, and said she didn’t mind who she was with for a little bit as long as they were nice and let her go back to Melinda.

“We’ve been partners in ops for so long,” Phil had said. “Now we get to be partners in working on something so much more important.”

Natasha immediately planned a small welcoming party. She was dragging her partner, Clint, to it, as well as Maria and Sitwell.

They talked quietly as Skye sat on the couch and fiddled with a motherboard from Phil’s old laptop.

The front doorbell rang. Clint walked over to look through the peephole to see who was at the door considering nobody else was supposed to come, then paled. “Uh oh. Fury.”

“Fury’s here? How did he- actually, never mind, of course he knows,” Phil said.

Clint opened the door, and Fury walked in with his classic leather trench coat, looking distinctly out of place in the bright home. 

“I’m here. Deal with it,” Fury said, striding in and stopping in front of the couch. “This your kid, Coulson?”

“Yea-”

“Wow, she’s so small,” Fury muttered. “Hi, kid.”

Skye stood up and walked to him, blinking with her large brown eyes. “Hey! Are you, uh, Director _Angry_? With the eye patch?” Skye asked, tilting her head curiously.

Everybody in the room stopped talking.

Melinda put a hand to her head, having completely forgotten the cover up name she’d given Fury when she’d told Skye about him. Phil sent her a clueless look.

Clint didn’t even bother to cover up his barking laugh.

Maria snorted and then immediately smothered it with a hacking cough. “ _Angry_ , oh my _god._ ”

Fury ignored them both and blinked at the ten year old staring up at him.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” he said after a moment. “I’m Director Angry. Anybody have a problem with that?” Fury glared around the room.

“Nope. Director Angry. Got it,” Maria muttered.

“Hmm.” Fury looked back down at Skye and grinned. “For a kid, you’re pretty cute.”

“Wow. _Angry_ has never used the word ‘cute’ except to make agents feel bad about themselves.” Clint laughed to himself.

“And he’s smiling,” Maria said. “Your kid’s a charmer, Mel.”

“Yeah, we know,” Melinda smiled. 

Phil walked up to her. “Angry?” he asked with a confused chuckle.

“I needed a codename for him,” she supplied.

“And you went with… Angry,” Phil said, amused.

Melinda nudged him with her shoulder happily before walking over to where Skye was talking to Fury animatedly about the difference between hedgehogs and porcupines. Fury, to his credit, looked like he was trying to listen but was clearly lost in the conversation. Even the Director of Shield couldn’t keep up with a ten year old’s thought process.

“Agent May,” he said when he saw her. “You’ve got a handful here, that’s for sure.”

“Hey!” Skye protested.

Fury sent Skye a wink with his one good eye, and she giggled. Skye was noticeably a much happier child after she stayed in a loving environment for just two weeks.

“Yeah, she is,” Melinda agreed, receiving a poke from Skye. “Thanks for coming.”

“I have to go now. Skye.”

She looked at him. “Yeah?”

“When you’re older, look into joining the academy. We could use-”

“Didn’t you just say you needed to go?” Melinda interrupted Fury’s recruitment attempt.

Fury sent Melinda a look, and in return she gave him her signature glare dubbed ‘mom-face’ by Skye already.

He pulled her aside. “She’s bright.”

“Very.” Melinda grabbed Phil’s wrist and pulled him into the conversation. “But we’ve talked about it. She only goes down that path if that’s what she wants to do. We’re not going to encourage her.”

Phil, having just understood what they were talking about, nodded. “Being a specialist- or even an ops manager- it’s an extremely lonely job; working for a secret organization. We got lucky.”

“We don’t exactly want Skye to lead an abnormal life, not after the childhood she’s gone through. She deserves a normal job with normal friends that don’t know twenty ways to kill someone with a fork.”

“Twenty-two,” Natasha corrected, joining the conversation.

“Twenty-two,” Melinda amended.

“Fine,” Fury sighed. “She’s your kid. Just- think about it. She can do a lot of good, even from just sci-tech.” He said goodbye to the agents and then left, just as abruptly as he came.

Silence, then Skye- “Can I join Shield?” 

…

Four years later, Skye had grown to calling her parents ‘mom’ and ‘dad’, was the only person in the world with the permission to call Director Fury ‘uncle Nick’, and had settled into her life as the daughter of two agents. 

Skye was a freshman in online school, she was taking small self-defense classes from Melinda, and she often visited Maria or Nat just to say hello.

Everything was great. Except for the occasional arguments about her future.

“No. You are not dropping out of high school to go to Shield Academy.”

“That’s what you did!” Skye protested, following her mother down the hallway to her bedroom.

“That’s the point. I never led a normal life.”

“But if you hadn’t done that, then you never would’a rescued me!”

“Skye.”

“C’mon! Dad said he wasn’t against it.”

“Your dad can’t say no to you, Skye, you know that.”

“Ugh. Moommmmm!”

“You know my answer. Finish high school, then we’ll talk.” Melinda walked into her bedroom and Skye ran ahead, leaping onto her bed and bouncing on it.

“Mom, _please_.”

Melinda sighed, then sat down on the bed next to her daughter. “Okay. Listen. Why do you want to do this?”

Skye sighed and shrugged.

“Skye?” Melinda prompted.

“Because- because I have to be like you.”

“‘Have to?’” Melinda echoed, confused.

“Well, yeah. Look, mom- I wasn’t always your kid. And sometimes I’m still scared because I don’t feel like your daughter all of the time; we’re so different. I’m scared other people think I’m not fully yours.”

Melinda opened her mouth and closed it. “Oh, Skye...” She pulled her daughter in for a rare hug, and Skye clutched her mother tightly. “Why didn’t you tell me how you felt? I thought that by now you were comfortable with being adopted, I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m- I’m not upset I’m adopted at all. I guess- I guess I feel like I have to prove myself, that I’m your daughter, and do what you did. Be the best operations student.”

“But you don’t have to, Skye. You don’t have to prove to anybody that you’re my daughter. It just matters that you are.”

Skye pouted in Melinda’s arms. “I guess.”

“If that’s the only reason you want to go, you should rethink your decision.”

“I also think it would be super cool to be a spy,” Skye mumbled.

“What if we compromised?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you looked into a couple of other career options, I’d be more willing to listen. I want you to have a backup plan.”

“Wait, so- yes?” Skye grinned.

“Uh- no. But I’ll consider it. And Skye- even if I say no, you can always join the academy when you graduate. It doesn’t set you behind at all. The only reason I went so early was because my mother pushed me into it.”

“Oh. Nainai did? But- she doesn't want me going to Shield!” Skye said indignantly.

Melinda laughed aloud. “Yes, well, my mother certainly doesn’t want her precious granddaughter doing such a lonely job.”

“Oh.” Skye grinned. “Maybe I could be a hacktivist.”

Melinda’s thoughts immediately flew to The Rising Tide, a hacktivist organization hell bent on exposing Shield’s secrets. “Maybe not.”

“I’d be a good one,” Skye mused. “I can easily get into the mainframe of Shield already.”

“What about computer science, then?” Melinda tried to steer Skye away from the more illegal side of career paths.

“Boring,” Skye booed. “I don’t wanna be a nerd for a job.”

“Skye,” Melinda chastised. “So it’s a deal? If you look into other options for a career I’ll discuss this with you further?”

Skye nodded emphatically. “Yup! I’m gonna start right now.” She wriggled from Melinda’s arms and ran out the door.

Melinda watched her leave and laughed quietly to herself. 

… 

**Four years later.**

Skye moved with the crowd of incoming students into the dorm building, looking at her facility map in confusion. She was more than a little lost, and she had no idea where on campus she was. She shrugged and followed the rest of the students into a long hallway with doors leading off to the side.

When she reached the door labeled 218-B, her assigned room, she slipped inside, meeting a cramped room with two bunk beds in it. Three of them were already occupied, one ridiculously messy and the two others extremely neat. 

A large banner was hanging across the top bunks with a message drawn in marker. ‘ _Welcome to Sci-tech, Skye!_ ’ the banner said in all caps.

Skye grinned and set her bag down on her bed as three people burst into the room, one girl and two guys.

“I’m Jemma!” the girl exclaimed, while at the same time the two boys introduced themselves as Fitz and Trip.

“Nice to meet you,” Skye said politely.

Her three roommates piled onto one of the bunks and grinned at her. 

“I’m surprised they bunked a year one with three year twos,” Fitz commented.

“I’m taking some classes with the year twos,” Skye explained. “I tested really high for the computer science division.”

“Ooh. We’re a year ahead too,” Jemm exclaimed, pointing to her and Fitz.

“I’m, uh, average. On level ops student,” Trip introduced with a friendly smile.

“Oooh, I can’t wait to show her the secret tunnels and hangout spaces,” Jemma said excitedly.

She talked to her roommates for a little bit as she unpacked. The door opened suddenly and they all looked up in surprise.

Directory Fury poked his head in. “Are you good, kid?” he rumbled. 

Jemma, Fitz, and Trip stared at Fury with their mouths wide open.

“Yup! Thanks Uncle Nick!” Skye waved.

Fury nodded. “Good.” He sent a hard, threatening stare to each of Skye’s roommates, then left.

“Hmm. Sorry, he’s a little overprotective,” Skye apologized. “My dad probably asked him to check on me.”

“YOUR UNCLE IS NICK FURY?” Fitz gaped.

“Uh, yeah.” Skye grinned sheepishly.

“Wait- so you must be Melinda May’s daughter? There were rumours…” Jemma mused.

Skye nodded.

Fitz looked like he was about to pass out.

“ _And_ you’re great at hacking? Damn, girl,” Trip chuckled. “You’re gonna be a force to be reckoned with, huh?”

“Yeah,” Skye grinned. “Yeah, I will be.”

**Author's Note:**

> <3
> 
> [Tumblr](https://elbirbi.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/elbirbi/)


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